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Tuesday, January 28, 2014

I have a short post today on a beautiful Emily de Molly polish that I purchased late last year. This is my first try of Emily de Molly holos and all I have to say is I wish so much that I'd bought some more of the holos, because this is so gorgeous. This is 'Devotion'.

What did I say? GORGEOUS!! This is the exact sort of purple polish that makes me wonder why I don't wear much purple polish. It is a vibrant, saturated lavender colour. The holo effect is fairly strong and linear and is not at all shy, even in lower light.

Formula - perfect. I used 2 easy coats of 'Devotion' and I didn't need any mucking around (it didn't pull or anything). These photos show 'Devotion' with top coat on top and this didn't appear to dull the holographic effect as far as I could tell.

Emily de Molly can be purchased from a range of places worldwide. Have a look at the 'stockists' page to find the best place for where you are in the world.

I'd love to eventually get some more Emily de Molly holos so let me know which are your favourites :)

Thursday, January 23, 2014

As you know (if you saw my last post), my 2 year blogiversary has just been. I posted that day, but I hadn't had time to do anything particular on my nails at that point. I wanted to do a little 2 year anny mani for it, so that's what I am posting today. First up though, I just want to thank all you lovely people again for reading my blog, and commenting etc, and also thanks to the truly wonderful friends that I've made along the way. This blog is my little escape from studies and work and all those things and it is made just that much better by the interaction that I have with fantastic people from all over the world.

I really love how this mani came out. It is using a whole lot of products that I love which is perfect for this 2 year anny mani :) On my index and pinky fingers I used 1 coat of a-england'Camelot' followed by 2 coats of Emily de Molly'Dark Forces'. On my middle and ring fingers, I used 2 coats of Cult Nails'Fetish'. My ring finger has a stud design using studs from Born Pretty Store. My middle finger is stamped with a-england'Encore Margot' from the Ballerina collection and MoYou plate 05 from the Pro collection.

I won't get into formulas etc as most of these polishes have been reviewed previously on my blog - long story short, all of these polishes are wonderfully opaque, easy to use and they also wear remarkably well (even without top coat on 2 of my fingers).

Make sure you check out all the links to the stores of everything I used as they all make brilliant polish, plates and accessories!

Sunday, January 19, 2014

HI!! Guess what? It's my little blog's birthday today. I can't believe I've been doing this for 2 years already. Time has certainly flown by. Thanks so much to those of you who stick by and read it! I want to do a mani for this occasion, but I haven't had time. I think though, that it is appropriate that I am sharing the last polish from a-england's Ballerina Collection tonight. a-england is by far one of my most favourite brands of polish. Not only is the polish fantastic quality, but the inspiration and passion that the incredibly lovely Adina (and Tristam) put into the polishes make them that much more wonderful. So… on this 2 year anniversary, here is a-england 'Fonteyn' - yet another reminder why a-england is such a favourite.

'Fonteyn' is another polish that fits just so perfectly in this collection. A beautiful subtle lavender hued polish that catches the light so strikingly with the slightly scattered, yet linear holo. Look at that rainbow against the lavender on my index finger in this 2nd picture!

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Good evening! I have another a-england to show you tonight. This is another new beauty from the Ballerina Collection released recently - 'Encore Margot'.

This is a beautiful polish. It's a silver holo, yes, but it seems somehow more wearable than other silver polishes I own, somehow more delicate? It is quite a pure, white-ish silver, but it picks up all the beautiful colours in the holo effect.

As with the other 2 polishes from this collection I have shown you ('Her Rose Adagio' and 'Dancing With Nureyev'), I did a little stamping on it. It is very hard to tell, but I used both the previously mentioned polishes to make a subtle saran wrap mani underneath the stamping. It was a little more obvious in real life, but mainly just gave just slight changes in hue to the base colour in little patches. For the stamp I used MoYou plate 01 from the Artist Collection and my trusty bottle of a-england 'Camelot'.

The formula of 'Encore Margot' was, as usual, easy peasy to work with. I barely needed a second coat for full opacity and this one didn't pull at all or anything like that. Fast drying too.

Thursday, January 9, 2014

How are we all? Keeping warm? I was very excited to see that Zoya nail polish can finally be purchased in store in New Zealand (in Kirkaldie & Stains in Wellington), trouble is at $26 a bottle, I lost some of that excitement and will probably purchase it overseas again. Anywho, I bought one because I have been itching to try the Zoya Pixie Dusts for a long time. I resisted the whole texture polish trend for a long time until I tried OPI 'Jinx' and loved it. In swatches, the Zoya's always looked the prettiest to me. So this is a quick snap of the one I bought, Zoya 'Stevie'.

I love this polish! I've mentioned on here that for whatever reason I don't tend to wear purple polish, but this is one of those exceptions where the texture and the gorgeous lilac shade scream to be on my nails. The silver shimmer in it is really lovely too, giving it that look of pixie dust having been scattered in your polish.

So all in all, texture has won my heart once more and unfortunately for my wallet, I NEED MORE! I have been lusting over 'Godiva' for a long time so I think that will be coming home next. What I especially love about this (and 'Jinx' that I tried earlier) is the ease of application. 2 coats was all that was needed for full opacity and my favourite part is that these polishes wear like iron!

So my question to you, lovely people… What are your must-have Pixie Dusts? Or any other textures for that matter?

Sunday, January 5, 2014

I have another of the new a-england polishes to show you tonight that is from the very recent Ballerina Collection. Tonight, I am showing you 'Her Rose Adagio'. If you follow me on Instagram, you may have already seen how I wore this polish, but more about that later…

This is yet another beauty and it is so fitting for this collection in my opinion. This gorgeous rose colour is so perfectly reminiscent of ballet to me - the shoes, the grace and beauty. It's a funny thing, but 'Her Rose Adagio' makes me miss doing ballet every day.

So here's how I first wore this polish. On the 18th of December, a lovely friend, who you have seen mentioned on here so many times, got married and a group of us did manicures in her honour. So this mani, was for Mimi of Makeup Withdrawal and her new husband. Be sure to check out the other talented ladies who did manis for Mimi too (they are all listed in this instagram image). On top of 'Her Rose Adagio' I stamped the images using MoYou plate 06 from the Pro Collection and Color Club 'Beyond'. On my ring finger is a glitter gradient using CrowsToes 'Triple Black Diamond'.

Yes, as usual with a-england polishes, the formula was easy to use. 'Her Rose Adagio' was slightly thick, though not in a bad way at all, and requires just 2 coats for full opacity. One thing to be careful of, make sure you don't do too many strokes in one place with the first coat as it can drag ever so slightly.

Thursday, January 2, 2014

Happy new year lovely people! Hope you all had a fun and safe celebration. We've been so busy while visiting at home. Has been lovely to spend lots of time with family. Anywho, there hasn't been a lot of time for nails and I have been wearing my new a-englands basically the whole time. The new Ballerina Collection is just so beautiful. I have to say that this collection also has an extra special place in my heart because I trained to be a professional dancer. I was so excited when I saw the theme of this collection announced. To start off, I am showing you 'Dancing With Nureyev'.

I knew from the moment I saw these, this one would be my absolute favourite and let's just say I was not wrong. It is just the most beautiful shade of purpley-blue. I'm not sure how to describe the shade of purple (or is it blue?), but just trust me when I tell you that it is perfect and you NEED this polish! The holo is fairly strong and just makes this polish that little bit more amazing.

I did a little stamping on top using a-england 'Camelot' and MoYou plate 06 from the Pro Collection. I quite like how this all turned out and the black seems to play perfectly against the base colour of 'Dancing With Nureyev'.

As for the formula, I'm sure no one is surprised that it was super easy to apply. I used 2 coats, but the second was barely needed. This polish is really nicely opaque and a steady hand may mean that 1 coat is all that is needed.